“JUST WALK ON BY”

LUKE 4:14-30

14  Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

15  He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16  When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

17  and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

18  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,

19  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

20  And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21  Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

22  All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

23  He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'"

24  And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown.

25  But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;

26  yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

27  There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

28  When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.

29  They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

30  But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

It happened really fast.  I was in my car getting ready to leave the Hornet’s Nest.  It was just about 4 o’clock; and the sun was beginning to set.  I started to pull out onto Route 62 when I suddenly saw a car zipping up the hill toward the center of town.  The driver was definitely speeding and he didn’t have his headlights on.  Fortunately, I saw him in time and I stopped before pulling too far out into the street.  As the car sped past me the driver, who was probably about 20 years old, raised his hand to the window and made an obscene gesture that was clearly meant for me.

What do you do when something like that happens?  I was indignant.  How dare he do that to me?  Someone needs to teach him some manners.  Besides he was the one who was driving too fast.  He was the one who didn’t have his headlights on.  All those thoughts and a few others raced through my mind as I pulled out and started down the road.  Now it just so happened that the young driver and I were both heading in the same direction.  So, I found myself behind him all the way to the Route 28.  As I followed him I wondered if I should say something to him if the opportunity presented itself.  In the end I decided to just let it go.

That’s what you have to do sometimes.  When you get snubbed or slammed you just have to let it go.  Or to put it another way you have to follow the advice that Dionne Warwick gave in her hit song from 1964.  You have to just “Walk On By.

That’s what Jesus did that day in Nazareth.  When the crowd clamored and conspired to throw him off that cliff he just walked on by.  He walked through the midst of them and left his childhood home for good.

What do you do when someone yanks your chain?  What do you do when someone pushes your buttons?  These days conventional wisdom says you’re supposed to push back and push back hard.  You react the same way a truck driver reacted one day when he was confronted by three burly motorcyclists.  The truck driver was sitting in a diner quietly eating his lunch when the motorcyclists walked in.  They quickly decided to have a little fun at his expense.  They did that by picking at his food and making snide comments about his appearance.  Because the truck driver was just a little guy and because he was out numbered he didn’t say or do anything.  He just calmly got up, paid his bill and left.  After he was gone one of the motorcyclists turned to the waitress who was standing near the window. “That truck driver sure wasn’t much of a man was he?”  he chuckled. The waitress just shook her head.  “No, he sure wasn’t,” she replied, “and I don’t think he’s much of a truck driver either.  He just ran over three motorcycles.”

You see people pushing back everywhere you look these days.  You see it in professional sports.  Just look at the controversy over the “disrespect” that was shown at the end of the Patriot’s game last Sunday. Just look at the road rage that seems to be happening more and more often. Turn the radio on and listen to what some of these talk show hosts are saying.  You know, sometimes I listen to all of the pushing between Democrats and Republicans, between liberals and conservatives and I say to myself “a plague on both your houses.”  People push back all the time. A teacher gives a student a detention and what do the parents do?  They push back and accuse the teacher of picking on their child. 

Don’t you disrespect me!  That seems to be the mantra these days.  Don’t you disrespect me and if you do disrespect me you better brace yourself.  You better brace yourself because I’m going to push back and I’m going to push back hard.

Jesus had lots of reasons to push back that day in Nazareth.  Notice how the people in the synagogue went from cheering him to jeering him.  After Jesus read those encouraging words from the prophet Isaiah everyone spoke well of him. All those warm fuzzy feelings didn’t last very long though.  Things got very negative and nasty after Jesus started talking about the widow of Zarepath and Namaan the Syrian.  

Jesus mentioned those two miracles from the Old Testament because he wanted the people to understand that God’s love wasn’t just for them.  It was for everyone, even people who weren’t Jewish!  The people in the synagogue didn’t want to hear that though.  So, they got angry and they pushed back.  They literally pushed back by trying to push Jesus off a cliff. 

Now here’s the thing to remember.  Jesus could have pushed back himself.  He could have pushed back big time.  After all don’t forget.  This was God’s only begotten Son.  This was the God filled man who had incredible power and could do incredible things. Do you remember what Jesus said a couple of years later when they came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane?  After Peter drew a sword Jesus told him to put it away. Then he told Peter, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father heaven and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels?”

Jesus could have pushed back.  He could have pushed back big time. Instead of pushing back though Luke tells us that Jesus just walked on by.  He walked through the midst of them and left Nazareth forever.  Now we’re not sure what it means when Luke says he walked through the midst of them.  Maybe it means that God spirited Jesus away. Or maybe it means that Jesus stared the people down. Whatever it means we know this for a fact. Jesus didn’t push back. He just walked on by.

There were two reasons why Jesus was able to just walk on by.  First of all, Jesus knew that the people in the synagogue were pushing because they were needy and insecure.  They were so needy and insecure that they didn’t want to believe that God could love anyone else.  They wanted to believe that God only loved them. Jesus knew that they were needy and insecure. So instead of getting angry and pushing back I think Jesus simply felt sorry for them and walked on by.

That’s really important when you find yourself being pushed a little. Instead of getting angry and pushing back ask yourself what’s really behind that obscene gesture or that inconsiderate comment or that arrogant attitude.

It might mean the person is lonely and doesn’t have a lot of love in his life.

It might mean the person did have very good parents and doesn’t know any better.

It might mean the person is really insecure and needs to throw his weight around.

The second reason why Jesus was able to just walk on by can be summed up in just one word: confidence. Jesus was confident in who he was and what he was doing.  So it didn’t bother him that the people of Nazareth didn’t really like him at that moment.  It didn’t bother him that they weren’t showing him any respect. 

There’s a story about a famous college football coach, and one of his players who later became famous himself. I wish I could remember which coach and player the story is about.  In any event one day the coach was in a pretty foul mood.  The practice session that day hadn’t gone very well and the coach wasn’t very happy with his players.  That was obvious when the coach chewed them out at the end of the practice session. “Okay,” the coach said when he was done yelling. “All you dumbbells go in and hit the showers.”  All of the players did as they were told except for this one player who just stood there.  Now the coach was really angry.  “I thought I told you to hit the showers,” the coach hollered.  “Well, coach,” the player said, “you told all the dumbbells to go in and hit the showers.  There sure were a lot of them weren’t there?”

Isn’t that a great story?  When you find yourself being pushed a little you have a choice.  If you’re weak you can push back and make it clear that you’re not a dumbbell.  If you’re strong you can grab hold of the God who loves you and just walk on by.  Amen.